Alssonus waited until Boellah latched onto him, and then he kicked off from the stalagmite. "Hang on, girl." he said.The darkness and chaos enclosed them once again, as they rushed down the narrow gorge.The crashing and violence of the water proved nearly too much for Alssonus, and arms with which he bear-hugged Boellah were soon lacerated and bruised. His eye was swollen from a bash of a rock wall.The light steadily increased, and the chaos became another sensation of open air, this time accompanied by the heart-stopping sight of soaring over a large tarn.I titanic splash heralded their landing in the lake, as steam boiled out of the riven mountainside. The red glow came to edge of the crevice, but no further. There it hardened and sealed the gap, shutting off the flow of the waterfall.As Alssonus sank into unconsciousness, he saw the rest, swimming towards the shore.------------------------->Sometime later, Alssonus awoke to see the friendly faces of Boellah and an unknown man."Where....?" he mumbled, lifting himself up. He lay upon the grassy marge of the lake, with the mighty walls of the Khossus Mountains surrounding it. No trees were nearby, but down the beach, overlooking the tarn, was a wooden stockade, trails of smoke drifting upward from it. Two red banners flapped above the fort, one with the Imperial Eagle of Arcturus, and another proudly proclaiming the name "Loch Caollerr"."Peace, friend. You're out of the mountain!" said the man, offering a hand.

A'lai had fallen from that mountain - down the waterfall and directly into the lake. He had sunk fairly deeply and barely managed to surface before unconsciousness took him to his grave, but he finally broke free and sucked in air. His eyes instantly narrowed, however, at the sight of the bright sunshine in his eyes, and he swam to the shore. He did not notice the others fall in, nor did he pause much to look for them.No sooner than he had made it to the edge of the lake, did two spear-heads jut uncomfortably close to his face. Two pike-men, with the insignia of the Eagle of Arcturus upon their garments glared down at him, "Come with us, Kozkirrim."

A'lai was arrogant, yes, but not foolish enough to deny them, and he thereby followed them - as he was taken to the captains quarters, he stole a glance to the river, where two more guards were hauling the unconscious Alssonus to shore. Since he had little choice, the Kozkirrim told the captain of their adventures underground - at least what he had seen of it. He was ordered to stay until the Arcturan woke to affirm his tale, just to be sure they werent letting loose a 'filthy Kozkirrim murderer' into the world. Once Alsonnus awoke and was spoken to by the man, he gave a reserved nod to him, speaking, "Will you hurry and tell these fool worms of our 'journey', so I can be free of this d**nable place?" He wanted to get out of here so he could find another suitable subterrainian pathway and attempt, once more, to contact his god.

'Nasia had hit her head after landing in the lake, and knocked herself silly. When she came to, she was looking up at the sky. She hadn't ever seen such a lovely sight as that. She sat up carefully and looked around. They appeared to be on a lakeshore with an Arcturan outpost. It looked a little familiar. In fact, it looked... oh dear. "So, here you are, little one. I believe you have something of mine."She slowly turned around, looking sheepishly at the scowling officer. He held out his hand. Obediently, she searched her many pockets, but came up empty. "I, um, think that the river stole it for it's own."The officer scowled even more, and 'Nasia wondered if she was able to outrun him. And then, all his anger melted away. "Well, you must've paid for it, since we found you on the shore looking like a drowned kitten. I'll not arrest you this time, as long as you and your friends tell us what was going on in there."

Maritann looked up to see two Arcturan soldeiers standing over him, he grinned and sat up, the officers were talking with Alssonus and 'Nasia. So Maritann got up and started walking over, one of the guards placed a hand on his shoulder, "We just need you name fellow?"

"Maritann, son of Ferigrann but he is deceased." The assasin's alias was a clean one Maritann had been a newly forged name since his last job. No one would suspect of anything, not untill he got to his target. He grinned on the inside, Alssonus was truley a great trail blazer he had lead them right to where the assasin needed to go.

"You'll have to come with us so we can check you rstory with the others." The second soldier said.

Having had his account scribed at Loch Caollerr Fort, and taken some time to affirm the identity and stories of his companions, Alssonus stood now, as the sun rose, at the gates of the fort, and helped Boellah up onto the horse he had bartered with a few of his possessions not taken by the lake and the river."All set, girl?" he said, and then vaulted up to the saddle.He had come to Alssonia seeking adventure. That he had found, plenty. Enough, at least, to sate him for a month or two.And he had found Boellah.A man could be dealt a worse fate. he reflected as he hailed the gates.

As he rode away down the grassy slope, bound for Helvetia, with the wind through his hair, a sack of grifted Imperial denarii at his belt, and a woman at his back, he chuckled as he thought:Alssonus, you dog, you're free again!

A'lai had left as soon as he was able to - namely about 20 minutes after the Arcturan had awoken. He had left with little changed in his mind or demeanor, though if anything, he didnt see the others as 'worms', so much as just 'beasts' now - surely an uprade. He left silently, without words to any others, though a sneer was registered to one of the guards at the gate.Finally, he was free of these fools, ready to attempt, once again, to meet with his god.

A'lai left, heading towards the east, where he had heard lay some deep, unexplored caverns. Perhaps here, in the darkness, he could find the place for his task.

'Nasia watched as the others left. It had surely been an interesting trek, and reaffirmed her belief that the gods she followed tended to get bored just a mite too easily. She didn't care; she actually feared her life becoming boring. 'Nasia had decided that she would stay in the outpost for a while, then maybe head for Zinaldia or Marcosia. Taking with her, of course, probably a great deal of money that didn't strictly belong to her. She smiled, and waved at Alssonus as he rode off with Boellah. Life was good, and promised to get better.

A fortnight later the assasin was riding on a donkey with a large satchel of gold on either side. After spending a night in the pallisade the assasin had made his mark and killed him. Now with his pay he was going to the beaches in the south somewhere before his next job. The man known as Maritann to his companions rode off into the sunset.